


Family is what you make it

by hopelessly_me



Category: Marvel
Genre: Down on The Farm, Importance of Family, M/M, Protective Tony, Tony Is a Good Bro, Tony wants a vacation, clint wants to work, secretive clint, suspicious tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:19:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23204581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopelessly_me/pseuds/hopelessly_me
Summary: Clint said he was going out of state to de-stress and Tony thought it meant a vacation. He was not expecting to end up at the Barton family farm.
Relationships: Clint Barton/Tony Stark
Comments: 4
Kudos: 118





	Family is what you make it

**Author's Note:**

> PS: Sorry I suck at tagging. =/ It's a thing.

“You know… when you said vacation… this isn’t what I had in mind.”

Clint sighed and opened the old barn downs, a shiver of pleasure coursing through him when they gave a familiar groan and he felt most of his tension and anxiety melt away. He pulled them open and walked in, turning the lights on. He was aware that Tony hadn’t moved from his spot, could feel his eyes watching Clint, but he didn’t want to acknowledge it.

“I was thinking maybe the Carribean, or somewhere exotic,” Tony continued and Clint could hear how he was getting a little desperate for some form of acknowledgement. “Clint, honey, baby- love? Did I do something to make you mad?” he finally asked.

Clint grabbed a ladder and pulled it down. “Yes.”

“Going to tell me what that is so maybe I can apologize for it?”

Clint pulled the ladder out of the barn, stopping where his left shoulder could brush against Tony’s as he looked over, knowing perfectly well how fake his smile was, watched as it made Tony uneasy. “No.” He continued on his way to set up shop before walking back to grab shingles.

“You realize this is my  _ least _ favorite thing about you, right?” Tony asked and Clint hummed in agreement. “If you would just come out and say it-”

“I think if you try hard enough you’ll figure it out,” Clint answered, stacking his supplies onto the pallet. He settled his hands on his hips and looked at Tony. “Look, babe, go home, okay? I just need a few days to… work this out,” he said, one hand coming up and motioning to his head. “I’m screwing with you. Everything is fine. You are most definitely fine.  _ We _ are fine.” 

Tony was silent, mulling it over. “Okay but now I can’t tell if you are lying to me or not.”

Clint laughed and shook his head before he grabbed the pallet and dragged it out. “Go home, Tony.”

“No, no, I don’t think I will.”

“You are going to end up regretting it if you stay,” Clint said in a sing songy voice before putting the toolbelt on.

“Not if I get to see you like that, I won’t.”

Clint locked eyes with Tony and had to remind himself not to swallow back a biting comment because Tony didn’t deserve it. In all fairness, Tony didn’t deserve the fact that Clint was acting like a complete asshole either, but Clint was running on self-preservation at the moment and wasn’t keen on letting Tony in. He knew what Tony would say if he knew what was really going on, he knew how mad Tony would become about this, so he would rather avoid the drama. 

“Tony. I came out here to work off some stress.”

“And I know a great way to work the stress off,” Tony answered, taking a step closer, which forced Clint to take one back.

“I’m planning on working myself into exhaustion.” Tony shrugged but Clint saw the worry return. He groaned before he pulled his shirt off and tossed it at Tony before he tucked some supplies under one arm as he climbed the ladder carefully. “Go home, babe.”

“You really don’t want me here that badly?” Tony asked and Clint could almost feel the hurt behind his words and felt guilty instantly.

“I don’t want you to get bored and regret coming out,” Clint called down. He set his supplies down then climbed back down. When he turned, Tony was right there, blocking his path and it took everything in Clint not to pull him closer and erase that look off his face. “Look, the roof needs fixed. It’s been years. I kind of don’t want it to ruin the equipment inside. Laura and the kids use this stuff. So… I kind of need to finish this? And there’s other projects I’ve been putting off. Lila wants her room repainted again because what pre-teen girl doesn’t go through a weird as fuck goth phase?” Against his better judgement, Clint reached out and pulled Tony closer by his belt, watching his husband comply. “I need to fix up the beater car for Cooper who is going to be learning to drive soon. And I kind of promised Nate that I would build some LEGO sets with him.” He heard himself sounding weaker the longer he rambled on, dropping his mask and knowing full well that Tony was about going to be able to read him like an open book.

“Why are you doing all this? Laura hasn’t spoken to you since Barney died. Hell, Barney only spoke to you when he needed something. Why are you putting yourself through this?”  _ There it is _ . Clint watched Tony become fiercely protective in a flash, his smirk gone and replaced with a half scowl.

“Because it’s not a fifteen, twelve, and seven years old fault that their parents are assholes,” Clint answered. “Laura is going through a thing, I get that. But she’s not keeping the kids from me like Barney used to do. They’re… they are family, Tony.”

Clint couldn’t fault Tony for getting mad about this. Barney was just as horrible as Clint’s parents, but in a different way. He wasn’t a physically abusive asshole like his father most of the time, and he wasn’t an enabler who turned a blind eye like his mother. Instead, Barney used Clint at every turn ever since the circus. Laura was just like Edith in a lot of ways- enabling the behavior and whispering apologizes where Barney couldn’t hear them. And those things only got worse when Clint’s nephews and niece were born.

And Clint stupidly went along with all it because he was desperate for a family, for love, attention- all those things that his therapist had drilled into him that he was craving and “compensating” for. He had a weakness and everyone knew it; Tony knew it going into the relationship, not that it made it any easier. Clint had hoped that with Barney’s passing, maybe things could change. Laura was still quiet and grieving, and Clint wanted the kids to see some semblance of normality because life had to go on at some point.

Tony sighed and leaned forward. Clint frowned and wrapped his arms around him, their foreheads pressed together. Tony was silent for a few minutes, watching Clint carefully before he closed his eyes and tilted his head to the side.

“Alright, which car?” he asked.

“What?” Clint asked.

“Which car is Cooper getting from in the barn?’ Tony asked. “We’ll drag it out. You can do the roofs, I’ll get the car in top shape.” He side stepped Clint and headed inside the barn before Clint could piece together what exactly was happening. “Don’t tell me the green hunk of scrap.”

“Nah, the blue hunk of scrap,” Clint answered before he caught up with Tony and grabbed his hand. “Hey- you know you don’t have to do this, right? Feel sorry and help. I can handle it. I know you hate this.”

“No, you are right, I do hate this,” Tony pointed out. “But it will make you feel better so I have to try, right? That’s what we agreed on doing when we got married? And the whole ‘til death do us part bit? I mean, you make it a challenge but-” Clint shut him up with a kiss, and tried not to laugh when Tony’s lips started to turn up. “So… blue hunk of scrap.”

“Blue hunk of scrap,” Clint agreed.

By the time night fell, Clint was at least done with the repairs on the barn and had a decent fire going out back. Tony came over and sat down next to Clint, leaning back and a content sigh. Clint could see the grease on his face still, which wasn’t abnormal at this point. Clint leaned over and planted a kiss on his lips, soft and sweet before he laid back and looked at the stars.

“I’m sorry for not telling you,” he muttered.

“Sorry I made you feel like you couldn’t,” Tony answered before he groaned, laying back and staring up. “You’ve got a big heart, I knew that going in. I just hate seeing you hurt every time you think you have a chance at some semblance of a family only for it to be ripped away from you.”

“Nah, I’ve got a family now,” Clint answered. “You’re my family. Steve, Bucky, Natasha. Thor and Bruce. Hell, Sam and Kate and America and-” Clint took a deep breath. “This is just a bonus. Maybe without Barney around this can maybe work.”

Tony’s phone went off and he checked his phone before he passed it over. “How would you like to make that family picture a little bit bigger?” he asked. 

Clint frowned and took the phone and looked at the photo of a little boy, big brown eyes staring innocently at the camera. He couldn’t help to smile softly as he rolled closer to Tony, resting on his forearms to look down at the phone. Tony turned just enough to gaze at Clint, his eyes flickering down to the screen.

“You sure you are ready?” Clint asked. “He’s four. Four years old have a lot of energy.”

“So does my husband,” Tony said to poke fun and Clint chuckled. “You sure you are ready? It requires a lot of work. Mainly, it requires you to fix the flat so there aren’t secret weapon compartments  _ everywhere _ that I pretend not to know about.”

“Can’t I biometric scan ‘em?” Clint asked, flipping to the next image. He couldn’t help but to laugh. “He is wearing safety goggles, Tony. Did someone purposely take these photos just for you?”

“I am going with yes,” Tony replied, rolling onto his stomach as well to look at the photos with Clint, his head resting against Clint’s shoulder. “Compromise? We limit it to just three well placed hidden compartments and the rest get stored away into non-hidey holes?”

“I’m still keeping my vents.”

“God forbid I remove your access to the vents!” Tony declared with a laugh. “Do I look like a monster to you?”

Clint looked over with an easy smile. “Nah, you look perfect to me,” he said before he kissed Tony again. “Four compartments.”

“Two.”

“Three,” Clint grumbled. “You drive an incredibly hard bargain.”

“Years of practice,” Tony replied confidentially.

Clint flipped to another photo. “Alright… so what do you know?” he asked, glancing up.

Clint wasn’t sure he had seen Tony’s face so animated before, at least not in this way. It was different from the excitement he got with his robots, or his blueprints- that excitement was stemmed in confidence. It was different than their wedding day- his excitement that day was self-assured and calm. This was nervous and excited, it was unsure but committed. It was full of sweetness and gentleness, and it settled the hesitance he had about adopting while still working.

“So, his name is Peter and-”


End file.
